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EXXON Valdez - Friend of the Court Brief

In the Supreme Court of the United States. Comes now before the honorable judgeship of the U.S. Supreme Court, Petitioner, S. Pam Magee, and respectfully files this Amicus Curiae “Friend of the Court Brief”, with regards to this court’s scheduled hearing on the EXXON Valdez punitive damage lawsuit and that corporation’s intent on forever forgoing the payment of the damage penalty awarded to the plaintiff(s).

Background Supporting this Filing:
On or about the summer of 1987, Petitioner was made aware by a certain individual recognized confidentiality through the code name “JAL” that the onboard radar systems utilized by crude oil tankers calling on the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company Marine Loading Terminal in Valdez, Alaska, could be compromised through remote reprogramming of the critical navigational data. The correct data downloaded into the onboard computers used for steering the super-sized tankers was essential for safe navigation in the waters of Prince William’s Sound, as very limited fixed location navigational hazard warning buoys exist as redundant or backup devices should a vessel’s radar system malfunction. Incoming and outgoing tankers could without warning stray off course unknowingly if a radar system had been purposely sabotaged with the intent to cause a marine disaster. Besides interfering and corrupting a radar’s baseline alignment data, warning signals could have been disarmed as a means to distract the crew away from any possible collision course designed through a malfunctioning radar system.

Question Presented for Review:
EXXON has consistently denied for reasons based on the laws of the high seas that the punitive fines levied by the high courts of this land are inconsistent with precedence set litigation for marine disasters involving hazardous cargo. That is the existing defense. Additional defense rests in the fact that if the navigational system(s) had been compromised through an act consistent with a terrorist attempt of sabotage, this was an unforeseen and deliberate act that was in no way shape or form something that EXXON could be held liable upon. It is not an act of God, nor is it an act orchestrated by a professional crew of merchant marines. It is a premeditated act onto itself with the intent to cause harm to EXXON, its crew and the marine environment. It is an act that causes economic harm against the United States of America.

Interest of Amicus Curiae:
Of interest before this court with respect to this petition is the fact that the courts of law cannot hold responsible an entity or individual if the occurrence was out of said responsible party’s control. It is a non-negligence act. An act of terrorism, as this “accident” would no doubt be, has an effect on the energy deliveries to the United States and is out of the control of the responsible party, in this case, EXXON and the crew of the EXXON Valdez Tanker Vessel. At the time of the EXXON Valdez wreck upon Bligh Reef, the technology to remotely diagnose and maintain electronic components and systems was at its infancy. It was during this time that many systems were transforming from the analog design to that of a digital design. Analog designs cannot be easily remotely programmed. Digital systems are user friendly and can be reprogrammed from a remote location as long as access is allowed. Analog circuitry also has an inherent limit to a malfunction or calculated malfunction, wherein digital circuitry is based on computer code, which can be manipulated to infinity. With that in mind, so was the security aspect of this technology also at its infancy and unwanted intrusion may have not been a concern. This of course has been proven to be false, as with data streaming and identity theft, it was only a matter of time before a system was compromised. Today, access to critical systems - like navigational steering systems - exhibit a secure activity with the highest of priorities. That kind of priority did not exist at the time of the “accident” as it was not a problem or ever envisioned a problem. If a security breach occurred today on a navigational system, the vessel owner could be held liable for attempts by sabotage, as there exists no excuse to allow access for unauthorized entities or individuals. At the time of the EXXON disaster in 1989, terrorists activities over the airwaves that could manipulate critical navigational data was absent to the point it wasn’t a consideration. We learn over time, through trials and tribulations of weaknesses in our ways and means, including modes of technologies, so this sabotage against the EXXON Valdez Tanker Vessel could not have been arrested if somebody with knowledge and access and disgruntled enough chose to deliver this kind a damage against said tanker loaded with crude oil sailing within the reaches of Prince William’s Sound.

Request to Vacate Award:
The punitive damage award levied against EXXON should be, through filing of this Amicus Curiae and its inherent petition for certiorari, vacated based on the facts that the navigational system(s) aboard the EXXON Valdez Tanker Vessel had been compromised on that night of March in 1989 as said tanker vessel left the Port of Valdez. This was a deliberate act of revenge through terrorist activities that could not have been foreseen or curtailed and not an act or inaction by the vessel’s owner, the vessel’s captain or the vessel’s crew.

Respectfully submitted, this 1st day of February, 2008, by S.Pam MaGee, Petitioner of Record.